


Give Yourself to the Rhythm

by Scrunchles



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: A Lot of Internal Stuff, Also Lucio is Pretty, Gencio Week, Let. Genji. Fuck., M/M, References to Depression, References to Drugs, References to Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-18 21:35:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20319862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scrunchles/pseuds/Scrunchles
Summary: Processing is different now. Genji has tried to look at images, hear sounds, be in stimulating situations, but they just don’t have the same drive. Touch is entirely different. He feels, but he doesn’t feel the same way he used to; the lack of stimulation angered him at first, just like everything else did. Something inside him still clung to sex, still remembered it being such an integral and important part of him that he would die if it was ever taken from him.He's still here, though.Written for Gencio Week 2019





	1. Lust

**Author's Note:**

> I really love Genji and Lucio and they're adorable together and there's a week for this. Hope y'all enjoy--I have a lot of feelings about Genji post-cyborg mess.  
August  
19th - Lust  
20th - Gluttony  
21st - Greed  
22nd - Sloth  
23rd - Wrath  
24th - Envy  
25th - Pride

Processing is different now. Genji has tried to look at images, hear sounds, be in situations that stimulated him when he was wholly human, but they just don’t have the same drive. Touch is entirely different. He feels, but he doesn’t feel the same way he used to and it doesn’t excite him.

The lack of stimulation angered him at first, just like everything else did. Something inside him still clung to sex, still remembered it being such an integral and important part of him that he would die if it was ever taken from him.

He’s still here, though, and he hasn’t come in years.

When he was in Blackwatch, he threw himself into situations, chasing alternate bliss and cheap reliefs from his lacking sex life. Alcohol and drugs and even omnic stimulants didn’t work. He’s not a human and he’s not an omnic. It took more. More and more and more until he just couldn’t take it anymore and he withdrew altogether.

He gave up then and he’s still given up now. Master Zenyatta helped him find relative peace in his new existence. He is a sexual being without a sexual body and he simply must busy himself in anyway he can to avoid dwelling on what was and what might be and focus on now.

Now, he’s standing with Hana in a converted garage, waiting for the music to begin and calmly focusing on the environment rather than the people pressing in on all sides of him, rubbing against him and sweating through enticing colognes and perfumes.

Rather than avoid the thoughts, Genji accepts them. He wants to fuck. He can’t fuck. That sucks. He’s here and he wants to enjoy spending time with his friend Hana.

The interim music cuts out and the lights drop suddenly. Slowly, a vibration begins and increases until it’s the only thing truly ascertainable in the room. Then, bright lights in vicious hues flood the stage and cast a larger than life shadow behind the musician upon it. He yells over the crowd, and sets the beat with one hand while the other begins to mix music. He bounces as he eases into the mix, and then he slides back and forth like a pendulum, so smoothly that he must have wheels on his feet.

Genji doesn’t hear the beat so much as he feels it. The sharp bass shatters through his chassis and begins to build within his core. His mouth parts and he sucks in a sharp breath at the sensation, a memory of a memory, a lifetime since he’s felt more than indifference or frustration.

As the bass begins to set the tempo and the melody blends with it, the joints where Genji’s chassis fit together reverberate and he feels something intense and desperate begin to build within him. He watches the young man on the stage intently, the optics in his faceplate zooming intensely on the DJ before them. He’s much smaller than the shadow and lights make him seem. Genji’s optics call out his height and approximate distance from Genji as the cyborg soaks up the striking sight of him.

The colored lights around the musician reflect off of his dark skin and make the minute movements of his shifting and flexing arm muscles stand out intensely. He plays his board like a classical maestro, seeming intent but calm, like he’s done it a million times before and will do it a million times again. His face is cute—big, dark eyes, intensely focused on the task at hand. Long lashes and handsome cheekbones highlighted by the stark lights and a gorgeous smile that Genji wants to see closer, unfiltered by his zoom. The beat hits him again and Genji’s knees nearly crumple beneath him as his optics zoom in too quickly and he loses focus of the musician’s face.

Hana stops jumping to the beat beside him and touches his shoulder, but it doesn’t feel _good_, so he draws away the best he can in their confined space. “I’m fine!” He tells her. He feels like he should be alone for this. Like he should be ashamed like a teenager or more respectful than to be standing there in the middle of a thousand people, trying to lean into the feelings that are reminiscent of the build that precedes an orgasm.

Hana shrugs and starts bouncing beside him again.

Genji turns his attention back to the man on the stage and feels the surge again. He licks his lips and begins to bounce with the people around him, jolting with the beat and embracing the moment.

There is a point in the middle of the set where the beat drops and Genji feels it—the potent rush of chemicals and feelings. It surges through him and he feels people shift away as his chassis vents the excess heat. He begins to move through them as his legs turn to water, his metal bones become leaden. He finally reaches the barrier keeping people out of the VIP sections and jumps it before heading for the exit door and bursting out into the night air. It’s summer, but the air is nowhere near as hot as his skin, flesh and metal.

Genji sits down beside the door and shifts his faceplate to run his hand through his sweaty, close-cropped hair. Holy shit.

He laughs softly and closes his eyes, remembering the young man’s adorable face and how Genji’s entire being had vibrated at his whim. After so long feeling frustrated and thinking that there was nothing he could do about it—there is.

He can lust again.

The door opens and Hana exits. “Hey, are you okay?” she asks.

“Yes.” Genji settles his faceplate back into place and then stands. He stretches and then opens the door wider to allow them to walk back in.

“If it’s overwhelming, we can go,” she offers.

Genji shakes his head. “I enjoy it,” he promises, not sure how to explain that it was overwhelming in a _very_ good way. “It is just new,” he decides on.

Hana smiles and leads the way back in. They stay in the VIP area this time, and Genji is thankful that he has a little more distance between them as he dances beside Hana. Steam releases from his vents every once in a while and Genji never looks away from the young man’s face.


	2. Gluttony

Genji buys all of Lucio’s albums. He remembered the musician’s name when he got a poster and a shirt and a mug. He feels a bit ridiculous for not knowing it before, but he hadn’t been interested until Lucio _made_ him interested.

It takes him two days to cobble together a sufficient music set up in his room. He asks favors of nearly everyone on the base. Torbjorn for small tools and Reinhardt for local shop recommendations. Hana and Brigette have some small electronics knowledge and between the two bright women and Genji, they get the speakers hooked up and cranked.

The first roll of bass makes Genji shiver, and he lets Hana and Brigette stay for one song before he ushers them out so that he can sit in peace.

Genji sits for hours in a perverse anachronism of meditation. With his armor off, he can feel the air conditioning play against what little skin he has left. It contrasts to the stark heat the rest of his body lets off. He flares hot every other song and plays the albums on an endless loop. He sinks into the music like a desperately warm hug and wonders how long he can go. He feels shame in what he’s doing, hiding away and seeking pleasure in innocent music, but he hasn’t felt toe curling—or steam venting—bliss in so long that he clings to it desperately now that he’s found it.

The vibrations rattle through him and he gasps and tenses. The heat vents and he’s left sweaty and panting in the middle of his room with his eyes closed, not having moved an inch. There are no lyrics. He can barely remember what Lucio’s voice sounds like shouting above the crowd, but he can see his face and his smile and it makes Genji  _ h a p p y _ . He feels a contentedness that he had given up on even when he was human. 

Zenyatta shares the wall that the sound system is pushed up against, but Angela is the first to knock. Genji doesn’t stop the music before opening the door, too irritated that he was being interrupted. She makes a hand gesture at her ear before he gets the hint and turns the music down but not off. 

“Genji, I’m glad to see you’ve taken up a new hobby,” she tells him.

“Thank you, I am enjoying myself,” Genji says and stares her in the eye. Don’t ask him to turn it down, don’t ask him—

“When did you last eat?” Angela asks. “Or train with Zenyatta?”

Genji shrugs. This feels worse than when he thought she was going to ask him to lower the volume. “It has been a few days,” he says distractedly. 

Angela hums knowingly and Genji all of a sudden feels like his mom knows he cleaned his room by shoving all of his toys and dirty clothes in the closet. 

“A week?” Genji asks, realizing that he doesn’t even know the answer himself.

“Genji...” Her disapproving tone makes him belligerent.

“I’ll turn it down, please leave me—“

“Ah, my student.” Zenyatta’s voice is as pleasant as ever and it makes Genji flinch physically. He has eschewed everything his master taught him in the past week—hopefully it was only a week.

“Good morning, master,” Genji says, watching Zenyatta float down the hall placidly. 

Zenyatta leaves a pregnant space between them before chuckling softly. “It is evening.”

“Of course,” Genji grits his teeth and attempts to step back into his room. He already misses the beat shuddering through him, feels too still and empty without it. 

“Just me know when you want to resume your lessons,” Zenyatta says. He twists his hand and pushes it out toward Genji. One of his orbs, yellow and glowing latches onto Genji and he slowly begins to feel revitalized. He hadn’t even realized he was tired.

He smiles at his master and glances back at the room. Gluttony takes hold of him again. It drives him with longing and purpose. 

“Tomorrow,” he says firmly before looking back at Zenyatta for approval.

Zenyatta hums and opens his door. “Very well,” he tells Genji as he disappears.

Three seconds after Zenyatta closes his door, the orb stops hovering above Genji. He catches it and it feels warm against his left palm. “Good night, Angela,” Genji tells the expectant, waiting doctor.

“Please take care of yourself,” she replies.

Genji flashes her a grin and tosses the ball in the air before catching it and stepping back into his room to close the door. He turns the music back up and stretches out on his bed. As he sinks into his usual half-sleep, Genji smiles and relaxes into the music.


	3. Greed

“Lucio is giving away signed merch to the first 25 people to come to his pop up signing in the states,” Genji says in a desperate flood of words.

Hana doesn’t reply for a second, intent on stunning the enemy she had just come face to face with and then rapid firing into their face. “Genji, I don’t think Winston will approve a flight to the US just for that,” Hana points out.

“Of course, I would never request a misuse of Overwatch resources in that way,” Genji replies, looking at Hana pointedly.

She keeps playing for a few minutes but Genji knows she knows he’s watching her. She hates it when people stare right at her instead of at the game. “... what?”

“What are  y o u doing this weekend?” Genji asks.

“Genji…”

“What? Your MEKA runs on a nuclear core, so it won’t be a waste of fuel and a flight like this is barely a jump for it.”

“No,” she tells him. “Do you know how much paperwork it is to take something like my MEKA into a US fly zone? They get a hint of my core and we’ll be escorted to the pentagon and accused of starting a war.”

Genji frowns. “We use your MEKA for transportation all the time,” he points out, an edge entering his voice.

“Our homes are not as crazy about trust,” she points out. “We’ve been afraid of ‘the America’ for longer than we’ve been afraid of the rest of the world at this point. “Besides, I feel like I’m enabling you,” Hana tells him. “Your weird obsession with Lucio was cute at first but now it’s a bit much.”

“It’s not weird!” Genji insists. “Signed merchandise is a common thing that you would want from someone whose media you enjoy.”

“I don’t see the draw,” Hana replies as someone headshots her from afar. She lets out a string of Korean and flips off her monitor.

“Please?” Genji asks, clapping his palms together. “Just this one thing for your best friend?” If Hana doesn’t want the signed merchandise, maybe Genji can get two.

Hana looks away from the slowly ticking respawn counter and her eyes meet his. He knows he has her. “Go look in the red folder in my MEKA,” she tells him, scooting the keyfob sitting on her desk toward him. “You’re going to fill out the paper while I tell you what to put.”

Genji grabs the key and leaps away eagerly, resembling a teenager rather than a man of thirty-five.

——-

Hana tries to stay in the MEKA, but her apathy is no match for Genji’s puppy dog eyes and the promise of piggyback parkour across New York.

When they arrive at the location, Genji is practically vibrating with excitement. He has casual clothing over his armor, at peace with the fact that he can blend in on the streets as an omnic. Kind of. It’s still irritating, but Genji accepts the feelings and lets them go rather than dwelling on them as he had years ago. 

When they reach the door, Genji is surprised to see that there are about a hundred people ahead of them. They’re here several hours before the event! He hadn’t expected such a large turn out.

Hana folds her legs beneath her and pulls out her mobile system. “You can at least get a picture with him or something,” she tells Genji as she loads from a previous save and begins running around, picking flowers and taking quests.

Genji sighs and sinks down beside her to wait. “He only does these twice a year,” he says sadly.

Hana hums her acknowledgement as she tries to complete a puzzle. He watches her try pieces fruitlessly for a minute before he points out what his faceplate locked in on immediately. She laughs and smacks his leg, calling him a cheater before she accepts her in-game prize and moves on to the next challenge.

Two hours later, people begin standing and stretching and Genji helps Hana to her feet. He’s a little less excited now that he knows he’ll miss out on signed merch, but he’ll be content with just getting a picture with Lucio and—oh fuck he’s going to actually get to talk to him.

Genji begins bouncing again, his energy restored despite sitting for several hours and the core purpose of his mission taken from him. As the line moves through, Hana continues her game and Genji distractedly helps her occasionally but ultimately he’s eager to catch a glimpse of Lucio.

Once they’re inside, it’s easy to see Lucio sitting at a fold out table with a stack of posters to one side. He smiles warmly at each person who comes up and takes pictures with them and talks to them. Many of them take a poster and exchange money with a severe looking woman standing nearby, but he watches two or three have a more prolonged conversation and sign something before they go into a side room.

“What are they doing?” Genji asks.

Hana shrugs and takes a step forward when the line moves.

They reach the beginning of the line after an hour and a half of slow shuffling forward. Genji nearly trips forward and grins before he realizes that Lucio can’t see his expression with his face plate in place.

“Hi!” Lucio says, smiling brightly and holding out his hand.

Genji gives a half bow and then accepts Lucio’s hand. “Greetings,” he says. “I am a huge fan, thank you for your music it—“ Genji nearly bites his tongue, but he lets the most cliche thing he could says come out of his mouth. “It moves me.”

Lucio’s expression brightens and he claps Genji’s shoulder with his other hand. “That’s great! What’s your favorite song?” 

Genji stares blankly at Lucio for a moment, not expecting for him to say anything past, “great, now here’s a poster please leave.”

Genji’s words stick in his throat, but then he clears it and forces out, “ ‘We Move Together As One’ from  _Synaesthesia Auditiva_ .”

Lucio grins and nods. “Yeah, I love that one too. It’s the one that really speaks to me the most when I get stuck in a rut, y’know?”

Genji nods, because he certainly does know how important it is to keep moving forward. “You are very talented,” he tells Lucio. “I look forward to your future endeavors.”

“Thanks!” Lucio motions to Genji’s phone clutched in his hand. “Do you want a selfie?” he asks.

It’s surreal to have his arm around Lucio and Lucio’s arm around him in return. Genji holds the phone out and takes several pictures of them. Lucio is grinning brightly and Genji… has his faceplate on. He looks at the pictures and then Lucio. “Can I get one more?” He asks.

“Sure, man, no problem.” 

Genji removes his faceplate and hands it to Hana before smiling at Lucio. “Okay,” he says. “Just the one,” he promises, not wanting to be greedy. 

Lucio stares at him and Genji clears his throat.

“Sorry,” Lucio says and his hand touches Genji’s back again as he leans in for the photo. “Your eyes are great,” he says.

“What?” Genji asks just as the photo snaps. When he views it, he looks shocked and has pink across his cheeks and overall it’s not the best picture he could have.

“Hey, Luce, you still have signed merch left?” Hana asks, finally looking up from her phone.

“Hana!” Lucio’s attention snaps away from Genji and he high fives her like they’re old friends and then embraces her. “How are you? Why are you here?”

“I’m well. My friend really likes you, so we came to see if he could get a signed merchandise and a picture or five,” she explains, holding Genji’s face plate back to him.

Genji accepts it and quickly snaps it back into place to hide the shocked disbelief on his face.

“Why didn’t you say so?” Lucio says, turning back to Genji with a grin. “We still have some spots open!”

“Spots?” Genji asks.

“Yeah, just read this and sign and you’ll get your merch at the end,” Lucio promises. 

Genji accepts the piece of paper and through the legalese, he makes out that by signing the paper he’s agreeing of his own volition to volunteer for a minimum of two hours at a local soup kitchen and he will receive a signed piece of merchandise as reward not compensation for his time, blah, blah, he cannot post about his volunteering on social media or otherwise talk about it in detail or mention Lucio’s involvement.

“What is this?” Genji asks, though there’s nothing he doesn’t agree with so he signs it. A few more hours with Lucio? He would sign away more than just the bragging rights for that opportunity. 

“It’s a non-disclosure agreement,” Lucio tells him. “It’s more of a challenge and weeds out the people who just want the merch to sell online or who came here to brag to their followers. Volunteering is about what you’re doing for somebody else.” Lucio presses his palm to his own chest and then Genji’s. He imagines he can feel the warmth through the metal and wishes he hadn’t worn his armor despite how it’s more comfortable to walk in public. “It’s about the connection here, an A and B transaction of humanity, you feel me?”

Genji nods. “Yes,” he replies, staring at the smaller man in wonder. He reminds Genji of Zenyatta in the conviction he has and how enlightened his words and intentions make Genji feel. 

Lucio takes out his own phone and takes a picture with Hana before motioning for Genji to come back in. “If you’re comfortable with it, I want your face in this one,” Lucio tells him. 

Genji eagerly removes his face plate again and they take several more photos together, with both Hana and Lucio’s phones and Lucio surprises Genji by taking one more of just the two of them on his own device.

“Alright, gotta keep it moving, but go ahead and sit in the waiting room. The line’s almost done and then we can get to work,” Lucio tells them.

“You’re staying?” Genji asks Hana as she walks with him.

“Sure,” Hana replies, shrugging. “While Talon’s laying low, I have to feel like I’m doing good somewhere.”


	4. Sloth

It’s back.

The crippling need to just sit on the floor with Lucio’s music playing incessantly at high volume.

He feels like he hasn’t had time to himself in weeks. A resurgence of Talon had them away from the base most of last week and then gear repair and strategic planning and a fiasco with a loose cat in the base... it just feels like there’s not enough time or energy to do things. Even simple things that don’t take up even a fraction of the day. Yesterday, Genji committed to helping Zenyatta with some light repairs and scheduled a meeting about stress relief through meditation—but today he just feels stuck.

The last song on the last album ends and the eleventh song on the first one begins. Light lyrics, barely ascertainable through the melody make the hair on his flesh arm pimple with goosebumps at their significance. 

_You gotta keep moving forward._

Genji swallows thickly and feels the guilt coiling in his gut dissipate just a bit. He reflects on one of the many conversations he and Lucio had had during the time they volunteered in New York.

_I wrote Move Forward because I hit a point in my album where it was still something I wanted to do, but my inspiration just wasn’t there._

Genji takes a deep breath and relaxes his eyes from being tightly clenched. 

_I thought it was so much bigger than me and what I initially wanted, there was no way I could keep going and the record company was pushing deadlines on me and saying how great a success it would be before they even really heard any of it—I couldn’t even get the tech to work, man, I was freaking out._

He doesn’t have to do everything at once. 

_I was so far behind, but I took a few days off, just—like— each day did one line of code or half a phrase of notes and then packed it in._

He doesn’t have to do both things if he can only manage one.

_The next time I decided to work on it for longer, I got an entire song done in two days. It was awesome!_

Genji’s alarm for his meeting with Zenyatta goes off and he snoozes it with a sigh.

_So, yeah, don’t mistake needing a break for laziness._

Genji opens a comm channel to Zenyatta and smiles nervously when his master’s pleasant voice fills his ears.

_“Genji, am I late?”_

“No, Master... I wanted to ask if we can work on your repairs tomorrow? I would like to spend some personal time meditating before the team meeting today,” he says.

_“Of course,_ _”_ Zenyatta replies. _“_ _If you would just like some company, let me know.”_

“I will,” Genji promises. He resets his alarm and sinks back into the music, feeling the doppler pings echo through his shell and the deep bass beats rattle his core.

When it’s time for the meeting, Genji feels better about leaving his room and sends a text message on his way to the Gibraltar briefing room.

_Genji: Thank you for your time last month. Your words have helped me continue moving forward._

_Lucio: glad i could help 8)_

_Lucio: feel free to text more often_

_Lucio: i had hana give u my number for a reason dont sleep on it_


End file.
